diff --git a/src/py/kaleido/_json.py b/src/py/kaleido/_json.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f62b8b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/py/kaleido/_json.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from decimal import Decimal
+from typing import Any, Union
+
+try:
+    import orjson
+except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover - exercised when orjson is unavailable
+    orjson = None
+
+
+def default(obj: Any) -> Any:
+    """Fallback for types the active JSON backend can't handle natively."""
+    if isinstance(obj, Decimal):
+        return float(obj)
+    if hasattr(obj, "isoformat"):  # datetime-like, e.g. pandas Timestamp (#458)
+        return obj.isoformat()
+    if hasattr(obj, "tolist"):
+        return obj.tolist()
+    raise TypeError(f"Type is not JSON serializable: {type(obj).__name__}")
+
+
+def dumps(obj: Any) -> str:
+    if orjson is not None:
+        return orjson.dumps(
+            obj,
+            default=default,
+            option=orjson.OPT_SERIALIZE_NUMPY,
+        ).decode()
+    return json.dumps(obj, default=default, separators=(",", ":"))
+
+
+def loads(value: Union[str, bytes, bytearray]) -> Any:
+    if orjson is not None:
+        return orjson.loads(value)
+    return json.loads(value)
diff --git a/src/py/kaleido/_kaleido_tab/_tab.py b/src/py/kaleido/_kaleido_tab/_tab.py
index 800676ea..bff01323 100644
--- a/src/py/kaleido/_kaleido_tab/_tab.py
+++ b/src/py/kaleido/_kaleido_tab/_tab.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import base64
-from decimal import Decimal
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import logistro
-import orjson
 
+from kaleido._json import default as _orjson_default
+from kaleido._json import dumps as _json_dumps
 from . import _devtools_utils as _dtools
 from . import _js_logger
 from ._errors import _raise_error
@@ -26,17 +26,6 @@
 _logger = logistro.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def _orjson_default(obj):
-    """Fallback for types orjson can't handle natively (e.g. NumPy string arrays)."""
-    if isinstance(obj, Decimal):
-        return float(obj)
-    if hasattr(obj, "isoformat"):  # datetime-like, e.g. pandas Timestamp (#458)
-        return obj.isoformat()
-    if hasattr(obj, "tolist"):
-        return obj.tolist()
-    raise TypeError(f"Type is not JSON serializable: {type(obj).__name__}")
-
-
 def _subscribe_new(tab: choreo.Tab, event: str) -> asyncio.Future:
     """Create subscription to tab clearing old ones first: helper function."""
     new_future = tab.subscribe_once(event)
@@ -153,11 +142,7 @@ async def _calc_fig(
         stepper,
     ) -> bytes:
         render_prof.profile_log.tick("serializing spec")
-        spec_str = orjson.dumps(
-            spec,
-            default=_orjson_default,
-            option=orjson.OPT_SERIALIZE_NUMPY,
-        ).decode()
+        spec_str = _json_dumps(spec)
         render_prof.profile_log.tick("spec serialized")
 
         render_prof.profile_log.tick("sending javascript")
diff --git a/src/py/kaleido/mocker/_utils.py b/src/py/kaleido/mocker/_utils.py
index d18d9e60..19ad2f97 100644
--- a/src/py/kaleido/mocker/_utils.py
+++ b/src/py/kaleido/mocker/_utils.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, TypedDict
 
 import logistro
-import orjson
 
+from kaleido._json import loads as _json_loads
 from ._args import args
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def load_figures_from_paths(paths: list[Path]) -> Generator[FigureDict, None]:
             raise RuntimeError(f"Path {path} is not a file.")
         _logger.info(f"Found file: {path!s}")
         with path.open(encoding="utf-8") as file:
-            figure = orjson.loads(file.read())
+            figure = _json_loads(file.read())
             for f, w, h, s in itertools.product(  # all combos
                 args.format,
                 args.width,
diff --git a/src/py/pyproject.toml b/src/py/pyproject.toml
index dbc76169..45a4a13d 100644
--- a/src/py/pyproject.toml
+++ b/src/py/pyproject.toml
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ maintainers = [
 dependencies = [
   "choreographer>=1.3.0",
   "logistro>=1.0.8",
-  "orjson>=3.10.15",
   "packaging",
 ]
 
diff --git a/src/py/tests/test_kaleido_tab.py b/src/py/tests/test_kaleido_tab.py
index ee8e10f0..0e1a4242 100644
--- a/src/py/tests/test_kaleido_tab.py
+++ b/src/py/tests/test_kaleido_tab.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 from decimal import Decimal
 
-import orjson
 import plotly.graph_objects as go
 
 from kaleido._kaleido_tab._tab import _orjson_default
+from kaleido._json import dumps as _json_dumps
 from kaleido._utils import fig_tools
 
 
@@ -11,6 +11,6 @@ def test_orjson_default_handles_decimal():
     fig = go.Figure(data=[go.Bar(y=[Decimal("10.5"), Decimal(20), Decimal("-3.25")])])
     spec = fig_tools.coerce_for_js(fig, None, {"format": "json"})
 
-    encoded = orjson.dumps(spec, default=_orjson_default)
+    encoded = _json_dumps(spec)
 
-    assert b'"y":[10.5,20.0,-3.25]' in encoded
+    assert '"y":[10.5,20.0,-3.25]' in encoded
diff --git a/src/py/tests/test_orjson_encoder.py b/src/py/tests/test_orjson_encoder.py
index eb4b8133..1d431d78 100644
--- a/src/py/tests/test_orjson_encoder.py
+++ b/src/py/tests/test_orjson_encoder.py
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 from decimal import Decimal
 
 import numpy as np
-import orjson
 import pandas as pd
 
+import kaleido._json as kaleido_json
 from kaleido._kaleido_tab._tab import _orjson_default
+from kaleido._json import dumps as _json_dumps
 
 
 def test_orjson_default_handles_datetime_like():
@@ -23,15 +24,29 @@ def test_orjson_default_handles_datetime_like():
     assert _orjson_default(tz_ts) == tz_ts.isoformat()
     assert _orjson_default(tz_ts).endswith("+00:00")
 
-    # A figure spec carrying a Timestamp now round-trips through orjson.
+    # A figure spec carrying a Timestamp now round-trips through the JSON backend.
     spec = {"x": [ts]}
-    dumped = orjson.dumps(
-        spec, default=_orjson_default, option=orjson.OPT_SERIALIZE_NUMPY
-    )
-    assert ts.isoformat().encode() in dumped
+    dumped = _json_dumps(spec)
+    assert ts.isoformat() in dumped
 
     # Existing fallbacks are unaffected.
     decimal_value = Decimal("1.5")
     assert _orjson_default(decimal_value) == float(decimal_value)
     array_values = [1, 2, 3]
     assert _orjson_default(np.array(array_values)) == array_values
+
+
+def test_json_backend_falls_back_without_orjson(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(kaleido_json, "orjson", None)
+
+    dumped = _json_dumps(
+        {
+            "date": datetime.date(2026, 1, 2),
+            "decimal": Decimal("1.5"),
+            "array": np.array([1, 2, 3]),
+        }
+    )
+
+    assert '"date":"2026-01-02"' in dumped
+    assert '"decimal":1.5' in dumped
+    assert '"array":[1,2,3]' in dumped
diff --git a/src/py/uv.lock b/src/py/uv.lock
index 1d816a14..5a5cb586 100644
--- a/src/py/uv.lock
+++ b/src/py/uv.lock
@@ -481,8 +481,6 @@ source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "choreographer" },
     { name = "logistro" },
-    { name = "orjson", version = "3.10.15", source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }, marker = "python_full_version < '3.9'" },
-    { name = "orjson", version = "3.11.3", source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }, marker = "python_full_version >= '3.9'" },
     { name = "packaging" },
 ]
 
@@ -527,7 +525,6 @@ pickles = [
 requires-dist = [
     { name = "choreographer", specifier = ">=1.3.0" },
     { name = "logistro", specifier = ">=1.0.8" },
-    { name = "orjson", specifier = ">=3.10.15" },
     { name = "packaging" },
 ]